


Not An Easily Learned Skill

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Baking, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Fluff, Cooking Lessons, Domestic, Established Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, F/M, Fluff, POV Sherlock Holmes, Poor Molly, Sherlock Cooking, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Fluff, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Kissing, Sherlock Is A Bit Not Good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 14:58:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5338346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Molly ropes Sherlock into helping her baked Christmas cookies and she finds out the hard way that there are some things that even the great Sherlock Holmes has trouble learning how to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not An Easily Learned Skill

**Author's Note:**

> So a good friend of mine, **mollyandherjumper** , is sick right now and as I feel her pain wholeheartedly (being sick myself at the moment) I offered up a "get well soon" fic to cheer her up. She asked for " _molly trying to teach sherlock how to bake for the holidays but he’s hopeless in the kitchen_ " and this is what came out. All of the recipes mentioned are based on actual recipes I found online and can be found in the notes underneath the fic.

One of the things he had come to count on over the years, when it came to the holidays, was to get a platter of assorted homemade biscuits and cookies from Molly. He had noticed his plate was usually on the smaller side than a few others, as most years he didn’t seem to show much enthusiasm for the gift, but in reality he looked forward to it each and every year. There were the usual suspects: every year there were at least two gingerbread men on his platter, and maybe a few chocolate chip shortbread biscuits, and usually a few sweet vanilla biscuits and plain sugar cookies as well, and he could count on at least one or two eggnog cookies. It was the rest of his platter that was always a surprise.

He always hoped there might be at least a few spiced oat and sultana cookies; she had made those one year and given him four and he’d _almost_ told her he wanted another batch. But that would have broken his unspoken rule. He’d only gotten them one year since, and only two, but he’d savored them. He was also partial, he found, to the chocolate brownie cookies; he greatly preferred them to the abominations Mrs. Hudson called brownies. They were nice and rich and very good. They’d been on her last two platters, so he hoped she’d make them again. And last year there had been _three_ pieces of the Millionaire’s Shortbread on his platter, which he supposed meant she liked him best since everyone else had only gotten two.

Well, she had agreed to go out on a date with him a few days before. An actual, real proper date. So yes, that probably had meant she liked him best.

And as they were still going out on dates this Christmas, and he had just helped her lug quite a few armfuls of groceries into Baker Street for what she said would be an entire day spent baking, he supposed he’d get to see firsthand what would be on the platters this year. Maybe he’d even get to sample the wares if he was lucky. That thought brought a grin to his face. An unexpected perk to dating Molly Hooper around the holidays. He made his way to the sitting room and she cleared her throat. He turned and saw she had a raised eyebrow. “Just what do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

“Going to go over case files,” he said, frowning.

“I had rather hoped you’d help,” she said. “I mean, that was the idea behind cooking _here_ instead of at my flat,” she said.

He looked at her. “We’ve been together for nearly a year. How many times have I cooked for you?” he asked.

She looked at him, frowning as she thought. “None,” she said finally.

“It’s because I’m rubbish in the kitchen. Ask John.” Then he paused. “On second thought, _don’t_ ask John. He’d love the chance to embarrass me.”

“I could teach you, you know,” she said, moving closer to him. She placed her hands on his chest and looked up at him. "I’m quite a good teacher, after all.”

He licked his lips slightly as he thought about some of the more interesting and intimate lessons he’d had with her in the course of their relationship. “Yes, you are,” he said, putting his hands to her waist.

“ _Soooo_ …let me teach you how to bake, and when all of this is done, then I can reward you for being an apt pupil,” she said with a smile before leaning in to kiss him softly. He kissed her back, pulling her close against him. He supposed he could put the case file away for a time. When she pulled away from the kiss he let her go and she made her way to the kitchen, arranging the various ingredients in ways that made sense to her. Then she went to a wooden box. She caught him watching her and smiled, gesturing to it. “My mum’s recipe box.”

“So it holds all sorts of secret family recipes?” he asked with a grin.

“Some. But it also holds recipes I find online that I like that work. My mum was an excellent cook but a terrible baker. I’m a decent cook but a supremely wonderful baker.” She began pulling out index cards. “I don’t suppose there’s anything you really have a craving for?”

“Your spiced oat and sultana cookies?” he asked hopefully.

“You’re in luck that I know you have enough sultanas for me to make them,” she said. “I think I can whip up a batch, even though I hadn’t planned on it.” She looked over at the cards she’d pulled out. “Chewy gingerbread men, oat biscuits, ginger biscuits, chocolate chip shortbread biscuits, sweet vanilla biscuits, chocolate brownie cookies, eggnog cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate caramel shortbread and a batch of spice oat and sultana cookies for you. That should make for some decent biscuit and cookie platters for everyone, I think. Now I just need to figure out how many batches of each to make.”

“I suppose I’ll share the cookies you’re making for me if you know anyone who would like them,” he said.

She gave him a smile. “I know Greg does, and Mrs. Hudson. Mary might as well. But I only need to give them two each. You can have the other half dozen. And I’ll even be nice and give you a bit extra of something else you’d like, if there’s something you want more of.”

He nodded. “All right.”

Soon she got started figuring out which recipes needed which ingredients at which temperatures, and once she got that sorted then she had him come in and help. The measuring was easy enough; that was just like his science experiments. But some of the other bits were harder. When he was helping to make the gingerbread men, he was supposed to rub in the butter until it resembled coarse breadcrumbs, but as he'd never dealt with breadcrumbs before in his life he didn't do it quite right and Molly had to step in and do it herself. And then when it came time to roll out the dough he forgot to flour the surface first and he rolled the dough too thinly the first time. He hadn’t paid attention when the dough for the chocolate brownie cookies went in and pulled it out to start baking them an hour too early, they realized after the first batch turned out poorly. And he got distracted by other things in the kitchen while he was melting the butter, syrup and milk in the saucepan for the oat biscuits and forgot to stir, and that meant he ended up burning the saucepan. He had to scrub the pan clean, remeasure the ingredients and do it all over again, which seemed to annoy Molly more than amuse her.

He also didn't space the first batch of chocolate chip shortbread biscuits far enough apart, thinking to put more on the baking sheet, so it ended up being one rather large biscuit as opposed to several small ones. By that point Molly had decided fuck it all and they just sat there, nibbling at it while she put the next batch on a cooled tray. "I love you, Sherlock, but I can see why John has embarrassing stories about you when you try and cook," she said, breaking off a bit of the biscuit and taking a bite. "You're absolutely hopeless."

"I told you," he said, nibbling on the section in his hand.

"How can you be this bad at it? It's not that different from all the experiments you run at the lab," she said.

"My mind just doesn't see it in the same way," he said with a shrug. "I don't find it as appealing."

"Well, if I keep having you help I'm going to run out of ingredients and I'll be up well into the night baking and you'll have to go to sleep in an empty bed," she said. "You already cost me some of the butter and I don't know if i have enough to compensate. You may not get your cookies after all."

"I could make a run to Tesco," he said.

She gave him a smile. "That's thoughtful of you. If you do that and you buy some extra sultanas, I'll make a whole dozen just for you." She had some more of her piece of biscuit. "If we ever get married, I think the rule should be you're simply not allowed in the kitchen unless it involves a microwave or simply adding to water to it."

"When," he said, popping the last bit of biscuit in his mouth before getting up.

She blinked. "What?"

"When we get married," he said, moving over towards his coat on the coat rack. "You think I'd be foolish enough to let the perfect woman for me get away? I'm not an idiot, Molly. I'm going to marry you, probably sooner than later."

"Are you going to ask me first?" she called over as he got his coat.

"Eventually," he said, taking his coat and slipping it on.

"And how are you so sure I'll say yes?" she said, though her tone was more amused than challenging.

"Because you're also the smartest woman I know, and you know I'm the perfect man for you," he said, flashing her a grin. He made his way down the stairs to the door. If he didn't leave now he'd completely spoil the surprise he had planned for Christmas morning, he thought to himself with a wide grin on his face. But damned if she hadn't basically confirmed she was going to say yes. At least now he knew and that made him feel as if he was king of the world...horrible culinary skills or not.

**Author's Note:**

> Please keep in mind, all the recipes come from [allrecipes.co.uk](http://allrecipes.co.uk) so they've got UK ingredients and measurements.
> 
> [Sugar Cookies](http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/25421/sugar-cookies.aspx) | [Chewy Gingerbread Men](http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/29656/chewy-gingerbread-men.aspx) | [Oat Biscuits](http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/335/oat-biscuits.aspx) | [Ginger Biscuits](http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/8852/ginger-biscuits.aspx) | [Chocolate Chip Shortbread Biscuits](http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/8399/chocolate-chip-shortbread-biscuits.aspx) | [Chocolate Brownie Cookies](http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/6756/chocolate-brownie-cookies.aspx) | [Sweet Vanilla Biscuits](http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/14239/sweet-vanilla-biscuits.aspx) | [Spice Oat and Sultana Cookies](http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/12975/spiced-oat-and-sultana-cookies.aspx) | [Eggnog Cookies](http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/25201/eggnog-cookies.aspx) | [Chocolate Caramel Shortbread](http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/22774/chocolate-caramel-shortbread.aspx) (aka Millionaire's Shortbread)


End file.
